Page 55 of Wish You Were Her
“This year, we have a very special festival program for you. But before we start celebrating the incredible authors we have visiting Lake Pristine this year—” George spoke warmly to the crowd, a warmth he seemed to reserve for strangers; for eccentric older gentlemen who wanted to buy travel books forcities they had no intention of visiting; for opinionated women who wanted to debate political non-fiction with him; for children picking out their first independent read; for young men browsing memoirs and hiding from novels written by women.
He had all the time in the world for books and the people who made or loved them.
“This summer is extremely special because my daughter, Allegra, is taking a break from being the biggest superstar on the planet to get some work experience with us.”
The room laughed and applauded and Allegra turned a little pink at the praise. She winced internally at the kind, if not hyperbolic, description. She was intensely aware of how many people were bigger stars than she. It was impossible to avoid such knowledge in her industry. The pecking order was not written down anywhere, but it was understood.
Nevertheless, she smiled at all of the faces that were staring at her. She tried to ignore the anxious clawing of common sense. Her father shouldn’t be drawing attention to her presence in town, but it would break both of their hearts if she made him stop.
“Ally’s mother and I are so proud of her and it means a lot to have her here, working with her old man, this summer.”
When some patrons of the festival began to make speeches, Allegra moved toward the other side of the tent. She could see Simon and Kerrie with some of the festival volunteers.
“Hey,” Simon greeted her with such open cheeriness, it made her all the more deflated over her pen-pal’s unmasking. “I haven’t seen you all night.”
“Had to deliver a message to Jonah,” she said, seeing no reason to be dishonest. “And it ended in our usual.”
“A massive argument?” Simon surmised.
“Yes.”
“Poor Jonah,” Kerrie said. Allegra sensed something mournful in the other girl’s tone. “He gets so muddled up. He means well.”
“Nah, Kerrie,” Simon said, picking up a paper plate from the catering table. He loaded it with meat cuts, grapes and cheese without asking if anyone else would like any. “He’s weird with Allegra. Different.”
“Well, sheisa beautiful movie star,” Kerrie said, turning to beam at Allegra.
“Well, Beautiful Movie Star. There’s an after-party to this rather dull launch party at my house in a bit, if you want to spend time with the rest of the under-fifties.”
Allegra smiled at Simon, in spite of herself. She found herself suddenly at ease with him, now that he was just the nice guy she worked with and not the architect behind the emails she would reread over and over again. “Sounds good.”
As he stuffed food into his mouth, Kerrie leaned a little nearer to Allegra.
“Jonah really isn’t a bad guy.”
“I know,” Allegra said, a touch defensive. “We just don’t… gel.”
“He’s very guarded,” Kerrie said, with the authority of a person who had known Jonah for a long time. “His dad left him and his mum for a whole second family when he was tiny. Just after he was diagnosed.” Allegra winced at this, feeling a shot of guilt burn her throat as she listened. “He takes such good care of Viv, and he used to be a lot more fun. Your dad really relies on him! George is like a mentor to him.”
This piqued Allegra’s interest, merely because her father always seemed a little distant and cold with Jonah. If they had shared a warm bond at some point, it wasn’t there now.
“He also doesn’t know or appreciate how hot he’s become inthe last few years,” Kerrie added, casting a furtive glance over to the subject of their quiet conversation. Allegra did not join her in looking but her heart pounded. “Andhe doesn’t realize that the frostiness just makes him a bit more intimidating.”
Allegra smiled very softly. “Got a crush?”
Kerrie’s eyes flashed to Allegra’s and the latter could see her considering whether to deny it or not. “Yeah. A little bit.”
Ordinarily, Allegra would tell the other girl to “go for it.” Yet in the festival tent, surrounded by so many people but with only one person on her mind, something made her stay silent.
The after-party at Simon’s house left Jonah emptier than being stood up at Pete’s Cafe. It was full of enthusiastic book festival volunteers, most of whom were people he had gone to school with, who had suddenly, out of the blue, the summer that Allegra Brooks was in town, discovered an interest in literature.
“Jonah!” One of the volunteers called him over to a group who were gathered around the stereo. “I need you as backup.”
Kerrie was with the group, smiling at him with an unreadable question in her eyes. He gave her a tight nod and then turned to the boy who had hollered at him. “What?”
“Tell Kerrie what you told me.”
“About what?”
